EC provides funding for two studies to develop the France-Spain gas interconnection

The European Commission (EC) has funded two engineering studies to develop Midcat, a proposed gas interconnector between France and Spain. Contracts have been signed today with Enagas and TIGF, the Spanish and French gas transmission network operators. Funding will come from the Connecting Europe Facility, the Commission’s programme to finance energy infrastructure, and will cover up to 50% of the real costs eligible for subsidies. Frontier Economics has worked for Enagas to analyse the economic impact of MidCat on Spanish and French consumers.

These contracts follow the Madrid Declaration, signed in March 2015 by the heads of state of France, Portugal and Spain and the EC President. The Declaration acknowledges the “strategic importance of MidCat”. The EC’s Energy and Climate Action Commissioner, Arias Cañete, explained in the signing ceremony that Midcat “will increase Europe’s security of supply, especially in those countries which depend on a single provider”.